<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Clockwork by kadotoriku</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28089558">Clockwork</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kadotoriku/pseuds/kadotoriku'>kadotoriku</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, POV Second Person, Soulmates</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 19:54:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>744</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28089558</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kadotoriku/pseuds/kadotoriku</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Only a few more minutes; three, to be exact, before you’re to meet your soulmate.</i>
</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Clockwork</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>[03:00]</strong>
</p><p>You were sitting on a bench on the street that day.</p><p>You were alone as you bit your lip and attempted to survey the scene. It was all but a busy day with a few citizens and lovers loitering about. <em>H</em><em>ow many more are like me? </em>you thought as you glanced at your forearm.</p><p>Only a few more minutes; three, to be exact, before you’re to meet your soulmate.</p><p>You've heard of all the stories about soulmates uniting with each other. Some described it as if time stopped. A magical moment, many described it; their hearts would beat through their ears as reality around them blurred, and nothing else mattered but them and their soulmate or soulmates.</p><p>
  <em>What is love like?</em>
</p><p>"How would my meeting go?" You bit your lip nervously. Albeit seldom, there have been notorious people rejecting their fated. Your nerves racked as you breathed heavily. Would your soulmate despise how you look? What if your lover, or lovers, is abusive?</p><p>Your mind began to wander. <em>W</em><em>hat were colors like? </em>You only knew the length of your hair, your height, weight, et cetera. What did red look like? What are the colors of your eyes? What of magenta? Were they all beautiful as your lovestruck friends described them as?</p><p>It was as if you stood within a room of clocks, all were clicking and ticking in sync. Your heart weighed heavy against your chest. Was your fated a boy or a girl or none of the above? Or were you to be assigned to multiple partners?</p><p>There were cases in which ceremonial marriage to religion prompted nuns and priests to lose their immortality, you recalled. You, yourself, have recently turned eighteen, the age of which growth stopped until your meeting with your fated. Many have called you lucky, for your destined meeting was close; meaning you did not have to suffer waiting years as others around you find love and die peacefully.</p><p>
  <em>Death seems contenting.</em>
</p><p>Would you watch movies whilst cuddling together? How about marriage? Do you already know who your soulmate is? Is your soulmate your friend or a complete stranger? Question after question clogged your mind, prompting you to, once again, glance at your tattoo.</p><p>The black ink markings were still changing as each second passed.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[02:00]</strong>
</p><p>The moment was close. The moment that would change your life.</p><p>You made sure to do even the slightest effort for it. Even just a few extra seconds of brushing your teeth and styling your hair, and even picking out a perfume just to make everything perfect. Were you worrying too much?</p><p>
  <em>Yes, I was.</em>
</p><p>As far as your vision permitted it, there was still no sign of your soulmate. You flicked your head to the right, observing all the pedestrians. A few glanced at you with knowing looks. They, possibly, were just like you; or they've been like you. Your eyes flickered about on the passing couples' locked hands, attempting to imagine such a sight with yourself and your fated.</p><p>You shifted slightly on the bench, bracing yourself to leave the monochrome world you've grown to. No more overly bland tints, tones, and shades.</p><p>Then and there, a new figure appeared within your vision.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[01:00]</strong>
</p><p>It like everyone described it: all at once, spurts of colors and hues burst through your vision. You wished to cry out at the world's magnificence; but you continued to reach out. You stumbled to stand as you thrusted your hand forward. All that mattered at that very moment was you and your lover, nothing else.</p><p>
  <em>It was memorable. Breath-taking. And ethereal...</em>
</p><p>Your soulmate was running with such speed that it was a miracle the drinks they held did not spill. Moist liquid blurred your vision, it was your moment. It was your time. You wanted to grasp all the colors and beauty within the world, all opened to your eyes by your fated.</p><p><em>...yet I was stupid. Oblivious. And blissfully ignorant</em>.</p><p>But a color stood out from the rest; one to scar you forever. You did not notice it at first until you heard a screech as your clock paused a second before zero. As if the breath within you was stolen by death, you couldn't comprehend the speed of which colors leaked and faded away from your vision. You recognized the remaining color almost instinctively.</p><p>The image of your soulmate's body painted with a haunting shade of <strong>bright</strong> <strong>red</strong>.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Dug up this thing I wrote circa 2017-2018. Published it on my now-deleted Wattpad account of way back when. It was originally written in all lowercase and I <i>was</i> tempted to retain everything in its unedited glory, but I ended up tweaking a few things anyway, hahah.</p><p>This was written back when I used past tense and was persistent on using British spelling for... whatever reason young me decided. There's also an interesting abundance of semicolons that I'm a bit lazy to see if they're used correctly. Pretty sure I was inspired by the Vocaloid song titled Heat-Haze Daze for this. For the sake of nostalgia, I'm linking <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8ZAqh7GRPg">this specific Hetalia fan animation</a> that parodies the original mv.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>